I think/hope I can finally say that I'm overcoming (knock wood!!) my problems with the Effner-air-dry-paints faceup method on porcelain!!! Poor little Darlene here had the most agonizing journey - I know I redid the faceup completely four times, maybe five. But at last I succeeded!!!

Darlene is Effner's "Little Darling #1" sculpt, 7" head size, on a Tenner body.Two more new friends are just waiting for the final eye details and they too will come to play!! I'm a happy camper! R.

Best wishes from just a few of my dollies who have benefited so much both from Dianna Effner's tutelage this year and from our own fantastic Tenner body!!! What a year it has been!! (As always, click on the photo for larger view.) "Merry Christmas to all .... and to all, a goodnight"! R.

I've been working hard to "master" using Dianna Effner's methods for doing face-ups on porcelain, with air-dried paints. You may remember that I struggled with Mimi and Joanna a while back. It hasn't gotten much "easier" for me so the current two I've been working on have been done over three to four times. But at long last, I'm satisfied with Little Darling #2!!

This is a 7" Effner porcelain head on a Tenner body. She has stepped into the shoes of Yuan, seen in July (?) who was a repaint of the same sculpt used on a vinyl doll made by Ashton Drake (but hence a somewhat smaller head, which cannot fit onto the Tenner upper torso.)

I'm over-coming some of my difficulties with the process (which mostly involved earlier paint layers accidentally lifting off as I apply later layers) by applying some of the layers with an airbrush - an entirely new tool for me. So something more to learn from the bottom up! I've been fascinated with airbrushes since the 1980's, but never gave myself permission to buy one and try doing it until now .... don't know why! R.

Happy Saint Andrew's Day ("observed")!Sadly I can't remember who made Michael's outfit, so I can't give credit. His set of pipes was purloined from a now-pipeless tourist doll.This reminds me that when I was a child I thought the lyrics to the one "Scotch" song that I knew were "the camels are coming, hurrah, hurrah!"Enjoy. R.